Marcus Schrenker, an Indiana pilot last spotted in Shelby County, leaves a crashed plane, personal and financial troubles, an empty storage unit, a worried mother and plenty of questions.

An Indiana man facing legal and financial problems parachuted out of his plane in the Harpersville-Childersburg area Sunday night, leaving the aircraft on autopilot to crash into a swamp near a neighborhood in the Florida Panhandle, authorities said.

Police continued to search Monday night for Marcus Schrenker, 38, who lives in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers.

The sign-in sheet from the hotel where Schrenker stayed.

Authorities are trying to determine whether Schrenker was trying to stage his own death.

Records show Schrenker and his companies are facing investigations, lawsuits and a $533,000 federal court judgment handed down last Friday.

Heritage Wealth Management Inc., Heritage Insurance Services, and Icon Wealth Management -- companies where Marcus Schrenker is listed as either the principal or registered agent -- are the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Indiana Secretary of State's Securities Division, according to Jim Gavin, a spokesman for the Indiana Secretary of State's Office.

In a federal lawsuit filed Dec. 22 in Indianapolis, Creative Marketing International Corp., an assignee of National Western Life Insurance Company, claims Schrenker and his Heritage Wealth Management owe more than $1.4 million in commissions they received relating to National Western Life products.

Schrenker buried his stepfather on Friday, the same day a company owned by him was ordered by a federal court in Maryland to pay a $533,564 to OM Financial Life Insurance Company.

Galoozis said she just spent several days with her son for the funeral. "He was just here," she said. "Marc loved him. They did a lot together."

Checked into hotel

He also lost his beloved grandmother within the past year, said his mother, and was in pain and being treated for multiple sclerosis.

She said her son is successful, as are all her sons.

"Still, right now is a very troubled time," she said. "It's just one thing after another in this world."

She said the family only told her of her son's disappearance late Monday afternoon, trying not to upset her just three days after her husband's funeral.

Galoozis said she doesn't really know what's true, and what's not. That Schrenker signed into an Alabama hotel under the name and address of his brother leads her to believe her son is alive and the man spotted by authorities.

"I hope he is the person they saw," she said.

She said she's worried he may have a concussion, or complications from medication he may be taking for the multiple sclerosis.

"Maybe he really did have plane trouble," she said. "We don't know."

Schrenker's single-engine, six-seat Piper Malibu crashed in a marshy area near Milton in the Florida Panhandle. He was en route from Anderson, Ind., northeast of Indianapolis, to Destin, Fla., according to his flight plan.

Schrenker reported severe turbulence at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday over Huntsville to the Federal Aviation Administration in Atlanta, and said his windshield was blown out and that he was bleeding profusely, said FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

The FAA's Atlanta Center tried to divert Schrenker to Pell City to land, but he did not respond, officials said, and authorities watched on radar as the plane continued south. Military jets were scrambled to try to intercept the plane, and spotted it about 12 miles north of Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida. While still flying, the military planes deployed flares to illuminate the plane, and saw that the cockpit was dark and the door was open, said Sgt. Scott Haines of the Santa Rosa Sheriff's Office.

Plane door ajar

When investigators found the plane, which crashed at about 9:20 p.m., its door was ajar and the wreckage showed no signs of blood or a blown windshield. The pilot was nowhere to be found.

Authorities now think Schrenker set the aircraft on autopilot over Birmingham and bailed out somewhere over Shelby or Talladega County using a parachute.

Childersburg police ran into Schrenker Sunday night at a store there, and said he told them he had been in a canoeing accident with some friends.

He was wet from the knees down, and had no other injuries, according to a statement released by Wendell Hall, the sheriff of Santa Rosa County, Fla., where the crash occurred. Authorities said he was identified by the Childersburg officer as Schrenker through his driver's license and also had some goggles that looked like they were made for flying.

At the time, Childersburg officers were unaware of the plane crash and took Schrenker to a motel in Harpersville.

A clerk at the 14-room Harpersville Motel on U.S. 280 said a man fitting Schrenker's description checked into the hotel at 9:51 p.m. Sunday. He registered under the name of Jazon M. Galoozis of Bolingbrook, Ill., and was given room 114.

Gone from hotel

Childersburg police later heard of the plane crash and the search for Schrenker and at 2:26 a.m. Monday notified Santa Rosa County officers of their encounter with him.

When they went back to the hotel, Schrenker was gone. Authorities said Schrenker paid for his room with cash, put on a black toboggan cap and ran into nearby woods.

Early today, U.S. Marshal Marty Keely said Schrenker apparently had planned his escape well. Schrenker had rented a Harpersville storage unit on Saturday and told the manager of the business that he would be back for his belongings on Monday. Inside, according to Keely, a Yamaha motorcycle with loaded saddlebags. It, and Schrenker, are gone.

The motel where Schrenker was checked in.

Throughout the day on Monday, authorities from local police, the U.S. Marshal's Service, the FBI and other agencies searched for Schrenker.

In Florida, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA arrived at the crash scene, in a swampy area near the Blackwater River, about 100 yards from a neighborhood, to investigate.

Schrenker's mother said she is thankful the plane didn't injure anyone when it crashed. "There would be no excuse for that," she said. "I am so sorry this happened."

Galoozis said she is terribly worried, but she said, "What do I do?"

To whoever does find him, she said, "grab him, hug on him, keep him warm and get him some help."

She also had a message for her son: "Tell him I love him and I am waiting here to give him a big hug and we'll work our way through this. And tell him to remember his three babies at home. They need him."